


21 Candles

by Catcat85



Series: Only One [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:43:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21561334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catcat85/pseuds/Catcat85
Summary: Kurt and Blaine celebrate Blaine's 21st Birthday.This is in Only One verse. If you haven't read the story, please do so. It will make more sense when you read this one-shot.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel
Series: Only One [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553848
Comments: 8
Kudos: 35





	21 Candles

**Author's Note:**

> Here is a one-shot that some of you requested of Blaine's 21st birthday.  
> I wanted to post this one this week to show my appreciation and gratefulness for all of you readers who had shown love to Only One. Thank you for reading my story and leaving comments.  
> Here's a fluffy one-shot.  
> Happy Thanksgiving!

Kurt holds a bouquet of red roses in his hand as he walks up to Cooper’s apartment building on the Upper East Side. The door man opens the door for him with a smile and a tip of his hat. He walks inside the lobby and smiles at the concierge. 

“Good morning! How can I help you?” Lauren, according to her name tag, greets Kurt.

“Good morning. My name is Kurt Hummel. I’m here to visit the Anderson residence.”

Lauren types on her keyboard and smiles. “Yes, Mr. Anderson is expecting you.” She gestures toward the elevators. “15th floor. The visitor security code is 6890. You’ll need to enter the code first, then press the floor number. The code will deactivate at midnight tonight. Have a nice day, Mr. Hummel.”

Kurt nods expecting her to tell him the apartment number, but she had already turned back to her computer. Kurt just shrugs and steps inside the elevator. He could always text Blaine and ask him, but now that Kurt think of it, Blaine never mentioned the apartment number either. 

When the elevator door opened, Kurt walks out onto the hallway, expecting to find different apartment doors, but he only found one door at the end of the hallway. He pockets his phone, and walks toward the door. He rings the bell and waits for Blaine to answer. He’s excited to spend the day with Blaine. Blaine had spent the last 3 of his birthdays without Kurt, and Kurt wants to make up for those lost years.

The door opens and Kurt is met with a different Anderson brother than he expected. 

“Hi Cooper.”

“Kurt!” Cooper opens the door wider. “Come on in.”

Kurt walks inside the apartment and looks around. “You have a really nice place. I didn’t know you have the entire floor.”

“The perks of being a really successful actor.” Cooper replies proudly. Kurt just smiles and shakes his head fondly. If it were anyone else, he would feel disgusted by the way Cooper boasted about himself, but he’s Cooper. It’s part of his charm. 

“Come, sit down.” Cooper gestures him to a couch in the living room. “Do you want anything to drink?”

“No, thank you.”

“Blaine should be ready soon. I heard him get out of the shower about 5 minutes ago.”

“I’m not in a hurry. We have plenty of time.” Kurt replies.

“Good.” Cooper gets comfortable on the couch. “This will give us a chance to talk.”

Kurt stares at Cooper, not sure where he’s going with this conversation. 

“What are your intentions with my brother?”

“What?” This isn’t something Kurt expected. He wasn’t even expecting to find Cooper at home. He figured Cooper would either still be asleep or out with friends on a Sunday morning.

“Your intentions. With Blaine.” Cooper asks seriously. “Are you planning on making it work this time? Or are you going to disappear from his life again when you hit a bump?”

“I’m definitely sticking around.” Kurt replies truthfully, without hesitation. 

“For the long run?” Cooper raises his eyebrow at Kurt.

“For as long as Blaine would have me.” 

Cooper smiles. “Good. Because you’re his forever. You do know that, right?”

Kurt smiles and looks down at the roses in his hand. “Yeah, I do.” He replies softly. He hopes they make it through this period and become each other’s forever.

“Hey Coop…” Blaine walks out into the living room and stops when he sees Kurt. “Kurt. When did you get here?” He then turns to his brother. “Why didn’t you tell me Kurt arrived?”

“Relax Squirt. I just wanted to have a little chat with Kurt.” 

Blaine’s expression turns to worry, and he turns to Kurt, who is walking toward him. “Oh Gosh, what did he say to you?”

“He asked me what my intentions are with you. And I told him I’m in it for the long run.” Kurt answers with a smile and his heart flutters when he sees a big smile stretches across Blaine’s face. 

“You did?”

Kurt reaches over and adjusts Blaine’s bowtie. “Mm hmm.” He hands the roses to Blaine. “These are for you.” Kurt then leans over and kisses Blaine’s cheek. “Happy Birthday.” He whispers in Blaine’s ear before pulling back. 

Blaine feels goosebumps all over his body and he lets out a shaky breath. “Thank you.”

Cooper puts his hand on his heart and makes a dramatic swoon face behind Kurt’s back. Blaine gives his brother a glare.

“Are you ready to go?” Kurt asks. “You look beautiful.”

Blaine blushes and his heart does a cartwheel in his chest. “Yeah. You too… I mean, you look beautiful too.” Blaine stumbles on his words nervously. “You always look beautiful.”

“Oh, please stop being so sappy and lovesick!” Cooper says from behind them. “You’re actually making _me_ feel sick.” Cooper reaches for the flowers in Blaine’s hands. “Give me these. I’ll put them in a vase for you. Now, get out of here.”

Kurt reaches for Blaine’s hand. “Let’s go.”

“So, I figured we take a cab to the theater district. Our brunch place is near the theater.” Kurt tells Blaine as they walk out of Cooper’s building. Blaine can only nod his head as all he could think of at the moment is that Kurt is holding his hand. 

To Blaine’s dismay, Kurt does let his hand go when they get inside the cab. They chat about the Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the show they are going to see after brunch. Blaine has seen a Broadway show in New York when he was a kid, but he’s never seen a Broadway show in New York with Kurt. This feels very special. They used to talk about it when they were teenagers dreaming about their futures. They would be living together in New York, going to school, and they would save up their money to go see a show on Broadway on a date night. Kurt would dress up in one of his fabulous outfits, and Blaine would buy him flowers. Blaine _craves_ for that life. The life he and Kurt had dreamed up when they were wide-eyed teenagers. He would give up his music career and all his success to live that simple college life, if it means he would have his Kurt back.

Blaine turns his head and stares at Kurt, who is looking out the window of their cab. Blaine admires Kurt’s handsome profile. He aches to lean over and cuddle up in Kurt’s arms, but he’s not sure if he’s allowed to. Technically, they are just friends. Do friends cuddle, or hold hands? 

Blaine’s thoughts are interrupted when they arrive at the bistro. He quickly reaches for his wallet to pay for the cab fare, but Kurt pushes his hand away.

“It’s your birthday. I’m paying. You are not allowed to pay for anything today.” Kurt tells him as they walk up to the hostess at the bistro.

They get seated at a booth in a corner. Blaine admires all the white marble interior of the restaurant. 

“They have really good French Toasts. Or if you want something savory, their egg benedicts are to die for.” Kurt tells Blaine as they look through the menu.

Blaine smiles as he closes the menu. “I’m in the mood for something sweet.” He tells Kurt as he gazes at Kurt’s lips. 

Kurt feels a flutter of butterfly wings in his stomach. “Um.”

Blaine moves his eyes from Kurt’s lips to his eyes. “I’ll try the French Toasts.”

“Good choice.” Kurt whispers breathlessly. He shakes his head slightly to gather himself. The day just started. If Blaine is going to keep looking at Kurt with his sultry eyes like he wants to devour him, Kurt’s not sure if he would be able to stay within the friend zone. It’s going to be a long day. 

After they had brunch, they walk over to the theater. Kurt proudly shows him the orchestra tickets he had purchased. 

“Kurt, these seats are amazing. They must have cost you a fortune.” Blaine tells him as they sit down at their seats.

“It’s worth every penny. Just to see that smile on your face.” Kurt tells him, and Blaine cannot stop himself from leaning over and pulling Kurt in for a hug. And if Kurt holds on to Blaine a little too tightly, Blaine definitely does not mind. They stay close to each other throughout the show. Kurt smells like vanilla, and musky yet fresh scent of his aftershave intoxicate Blaine’s senses. Being close to Kurt like this, but not being able to hold him and kiss him like he wants to make his heart ache. But he knows that they are being smart by not jumping into a relationship. Taking this time to rebuild their friendship and trust as well as learning to believe in their own self-worth. It’s only been two months since they’ve last seen each other but it feels longer. Blaine hasn’t even gone on tour yet. He doesn’t know how he’s going to survive all the lonely days on the road being away from Kurt. 

After the show, they take a subway to Bushwick. It’s still early in the day for Kurt to start making dinner, so they walk around a park near the loft. They walk as their hands brush against each other. So close yet so far away. Blaine finally had to put his hands inside his coat pocket to stop himself for wanting to reach over and lace his fingers with Kurt’s. 

They go to the grocery store after their walk in the park. Kurt needs to pick up a few things for dinner. They push a cart around as they walk from aisle to aisle in the grocery store. Blaine is again filled with an ache in his chest from wanting so much for this to be his everyday life. This domesticity with Kurt. The two of them doing something as simple as going grocery shopping together for dinner. Kurt asking him what kind of salad he wants to have with a pesto chicken and mushroom pasta he’s planning on making for Blaine’s birthday dinner. Kurt uses farfalle pasta for this dish because the pastas are shaped like bowties and they remind him of Blaine. The first time Kurt had made this dish for Blaine and explained to him why he specifically chose the farfalle, Blaine had smiled warmly and pulled Kurt in for a kiss. That was the first time they celebrated Blaine’s birthday. Blaine was seventeen, and he was irrevocably in love with Kurt. Now, Blaine is twenty-one and he is heartbreakingly in love with Kurt. Blaine is pretty sure that no matter what age he is, he’s going to be in love with Kurt in one way or the other.

“Make yourself at home.” Kurt says as they walk into an empty loft. “I sent Santana and Rachel away for the evening, so we have the place to ourselves.”

Blaine follows Kurt into the kitchen area and put the bags down on the counter. “How’d you managed that?”

“I told them I would do their laundry for a month.”

Blaine stops short and looks at Kurt in awe. “Kurt. I can’t believe you did that. Those girls are going to make you do their laundry like every day for a whole month! Especially Santana.”

Kurt shrugs. “It’s worth it.”

“Kurt. You didn’t have to make that deal. I really don’t mind them being here this evening.”

Kurt walks over to Blaine. “Well, I do. I’m not going to see you for a long time, probably not until your tour comes to New York. And that’s not until June. That’s _three_ months from now. I just want to spend some quality time with you _alone_.” Kurt pauses his rant to take a breath. “Isn’t it what you want, too?” He asks quietly before looking up at Blaine shyly. 

Blaine wishes he could just close the gap between them and kiss Kurt to show him how much he wants the same thing Kurt does, maybe even more. He wants Kurt to himself this evening, and every minute of every day for the rest of his life. But he doesn’t want to cross a line that he’s not supposed to. So, he did the next best thing he could do. Blaine reaches for Kurt and pulls him close to him. He leans his forehead against Kurt’s and closes his eyes to breathe Kurt in. He cups Kurt’s jaw in his hand. 

“Of course, I want you all to myself. That’s _all_ I’ve ever wanted.” Blaine tells Kurt. “It touches me so much that you would go through all this trouble to spend time with me alone.”

“I’d do anything for you.” Kurt replies. “And this is also my way of making up for those birthdays I missed during the years we were apart.” Kurt puts his hand on top of Blaine’s on his jaw. “I want you to know that even though we weren’t talking, I’ve always thought of you on your birthday, and wondered what you were doing, or if you had someone special in your life who was making you smile and felt loved on your birthday.”

“You were the only one I’ve ever thought of or wished to spend my birthdays with.”

Kurt smiles. “A wish come true?”

“And more. Today has been perfect.”

“And it’s not over yet. We still have a whole evening ahead of us.” Kurt replies as he pulls away from Blaine’s embrace to start cooking. “I better get dinner started.”

Blaine sighs happily. “Can I help? I don’t want to just be sitting around watching you cook dinner for me.”

Kurt turns his head around from the fridge and smiles at Blaine. “But, that’s exactly what I expect you to do, dear.”

“Please let me do something?” Blaine pouts at Kurt.

Kurt rolls his eye fondly. “How about you make up a cheese plate and pour me a glass of wine? We can have that as an appetizer while I cook?”

Blaine beams at him. “Sounds great.”

Blaine makes up a cheese plate and pours a glass of red wine for Kurt and himself. He feeds Kurt cheese and crackers as Kurt makes the pasta sauce. Blaine then stands behind Kurt at the stove and watches him cook. At one point, he stands too close to Kurt with his wine glass in hand, and Kurt turns around abruptly, knocking Blaine’s wine glass with his elbow and causing the red wine to spill over Blaine’s light blue shirt. 

“Oh my Gosh! Blaine, I’m so sorry.” Kurt apologies. 

Blaine lifts up his shirt from sticking to his skin. “It’s ok. Don’t worry about it. It’s not that bad.” He begins to start scrubbing the stain and Kurt stops him. 

“Don’t!” Kurt yells. “You never scrub or rub the stain. That will just make the wine seeps into the fibers more.” Kurt explains before he says, “Strip.”

Blaine gives him a mischievous look. “Mr. Hummel. That’s extremely forward of you.” He teases Kurt.

Kurt tries to keep a straight face. “Uh huh. Take off your shirt, so I can put baking soda on that stain to lift it right off.” He holds out his hand toward Blaine.

Blaine starts to unbutton his shirt. “And what do you suppose I wear while my shirt is being treated?”

Kurt walks over to his room and opens a drawer of his wardrobe. “You can wear one of my shirts.” He brings his dark green Henley to Blaine. “Here.”

“Thanks.” Blaine takes the shirt from Kurt. Kurt stares at Blaine’s bare chest where he has the buttons opened. “Um, can I use your bathroom? I want to wash off the wine from my skin.”

“Sure.” Kurt gestures him to the bathroom. He walks back over to the stove to tend to his sauce while trying to keep his beating heart under control. Blaine has always been fit, but he now has defined chest and washboard abs that Kurt wants to touch and lick. “Fuck.” Kurt mutters under his breath as he feels himself getting hard. 

_Think of puppies. Think of those reindeer sweaters Rachel used to wear._

“Um, here.” Blaine says softly from behind Kurt.

Kurt turns around to face Blaine, and he can’t help but roam his eyes all over Blaine as he takes in Blaine dressed in _his_ shirt, looking so sexy and adorable at the same time.  
“I love it when you wear my clothes.” Kurt blurts it out because he can’t stop himself.

Blaine smiles knowingly. “I know. I remember.” 

Kurt smiles shyly and takes Blaine’s wine stained shirt from him. “Here, let me put baking soda on it.” He then turns back to Blaine. “Can you drain the pasta? It’s ready.”

“Sure.” Blaine walks over to the counter to put the oven mitts on and drain the pasta.

When Kurt comes back from tending to Blaine’s shirt, Blaine had finished tossing the salad. 

They eat dinner at the dining table that Kurt had set especially for Blaine’s birthday. There is a vase full of red roses as a centerpiece. There are two long candle sticks on either side of the vase, illuminating the dining table in a romantic glow. Kurt had also scattered rose petals on the table. They may not be officially together, but he still wants to show Blaine how much he cares and loves him without having to say the actual words. 

They keep their conversation light during dinner. Kurt makes note of every smile, every move, and every sinful sound Blaine makes, and catalog them in his brain, so he can replay it over and over in his mind in the upcoming months whenever he’s missing Blaine. 

Once they are finished with dinner, Kurt brings out a chocolate mousse cake that he had baked the day before from the fridge. He puts candles shaped as numbers 2 and 1 on the cake and puts cone shaped party hats on Blaine’s and his head. Kurt records a video on his phone of him singing happy birthday to Blaine as Blaine blows out the candles. Kurt then makes hot chocolate for them and they enjoy the cake on the couch. 

“Just leave the dishes in the sink. I’ll take care of them later.” Kurt tells Blaine as they carry their dirty plates over to the kitchen. “I gotta use the restroom. Be right back.”

Blaine nods his head as he stares after Kurt’s retreating back. He leans against the kitchen sink and looks around the loft at all the birthday decorations that Kurt had put up. There are streamers, balloons, and a banner. Today has been a dream come true for Blaine. Getting to spend a whole day with Kurt. Not just any day, his _birthday_. They saw a Broadway show, did grocery shopping, cooked a meal, and had a romantic dinner at home under candlelight. It feels like a date. Blaine doesn’t want this day to be over. Heaviness falls on his heart as he looks at the time. Cooper had scheduled a driver to pick him up from the loft at 11:30. He has an early flight tomorrow morning back to LA for more tour rehearsals. In this moment, Blaine doesn’t care about the tour, or his career. He just wants to stay here in this cozy loft and never leave Kurt’s side. Blaine walks over to the window and pops it open before climbing out on to the fire escape. He needs fresh air. The overwhelming sadness of leaving Kurt is starting to choke him. 

When Kurt comes out of the bathroom, Blaine is nowhere to be found. He starts to look around the loft and finds Blaine sitting out on the fire escape folding his arms to his chest and looking out into the night. Kurt grabs a throw blanket from the couch and climbs through the window.

“Hey… what are you doing out here?” He asks Blaine gently. “It’s freezing.” Kurt sits down next to Blaine and puts the blanket around both of their bodies.

Blaine immediately snuggles close to Kurt and lay his head on Kurt’s shoulder. “Ask me to stay.” He asks Kurt quietly. 

Kurt tilts his head down to look at Blaine. “What?”

Blaine lifts his head to stare into Kurt’s eyes. “I don’t want to go home to LA. It doesn’t even feel like home anymore, now that Coop’s not living there. I’m going home to an empty house. Thousands of miles away from you. I don’t…” Blaine’s voice breaks with tears. “I… I’ll give it all up. The tour, everything. I just want… _all_ I’ve ever wanted is to be with you, every day. I don’t need or want anything else. So, ask me to stay.” Blaine looks at Kurt with pleading eyes.

“I can’t do that.” Kurt replies and Blaine turns away, trying to control his tears. 

Kurt reaches for Blaine’s face and turns him back to face him. “No, hey. Look at me.” Kurt holds Blaine’s face in his hand. “I can’t ask you to stay because I can’t bear the thought of being the person to keep you from your dreams. And _this_ is your dream, Blaine. You’re one of the few lucky people who gets to do what they love and become successful. You are so talented. Your music speaks to people. You shine on a stage. I won’t let you give that up. And deep down, you don’t want to give up your dream, either. I know how much you love performing and writing music. And going on a World Tour? That’s huge! Getting to share your music with the world? That’s an amazing opportunity that you are not going to pass up on.”

“All this success and opportunities mean _nothing_ if I don’t have you.”

Kurt squeezes Blaine’s hand. “But sweetie, you _do_ have me. We made promises to each other, remember? We are both going to chase our dreams and rebuild our trust. This time apart is just temporary. It’s going to strengthen our bond. I’m going to be right here waiting. I’m not going anywhere.”

Blaine still looks crestfallen, so Kurt does the only thing he could think of to do. The one thing he’s been wanting to do since he picked Blaine up this morning at Cooper’s. He leans forward and presses his lips against Blaine’s in a passionate kiss. He puts all his love and adoration he feels for Blaine into the kiss. Blaine responds just as passionately, leaving Kurt breathless when they pull apart. 

“You take my breath away.” Kurt says breathlessly. “You’re the only one who can ever make me feel like this.” He then grabs Blaine’s hand and places it over his heart. “Do you feel that?”

Blaine nods. “It’s beating really fast.” 

“ _You_ do that to me.” Kurt stares into Blaine’s eyes. “I want you to remember that when you’re back in LA or when you’re on a tour bus in the middle of the night feeling lonely. I’m over here missing you just as much as you are missing me. So, you go and be amazing on that world tour stage. Go take over the world with your music. And I’m going to work hard to take Broadway by storm. We are going to have the world at our feet one day, Blaine. _That’s_ how much I believe in us. We are going to make it. We already went through hell. This is nothing compared to that horrible time when we were out of each other’s lives.”

Kurt finishes and Blaine smiles slowly. “I love you so much. You know that?”

Kurt smiles. “I do.”

“And I’m going to miss you so much! After spending this perfect day with you, I want every day to be like today. I want to go grocery shopping with you and cook dinner together. I want a life with you, Kurt.”

“I want that too, so much!” Kurt leans his forehead against Blaine’s. “And we are going to have that so soon. I can taste it. Just a little bit longer.”

Blaine pouts. Kurt presses his thumb over Blaine’s pouted lips with a smile. “No pouting. You have to play fair. You know that’s my weakness.”

“All is fair in love and war.”

Kurt laughs and rolls his eyes. “Come on, Romeo. Let’s get inside and get warmed. We have time for one episode of the Voice before the car picks you up.”

“Can I have another slice of my birthday cake?”

“Of course. You can take the rest of the cake home. Share it with Cooper.”

When Blaine gets back to Cooper’s later that night, he goes to sleep with a smile on his face still wearing Kurt’s shirt and dreaming about the day Kurt would be laying down next to him in bed. He had the best birthday he’s had in a really long time and he’s hopeful that he would be spending all of his birthdays in the future with Kurt by his side.


End file.
